BioWare

What BioWare is

BioWare develops console, personal computer and online role-playing games. Its own about page describes the studio's focus as rich stories, characters and large worlds, and states that BioWare has been making games since 1995. The studio's main Canadian office is in Edmonton, Alberta, and the Edmonton page describes that office as BioWare's main Canadian studio, located downtown in the Epcor Tower. BioWare is part of Electronic Arts. An Electronic Arts press release from February 2021 describes BioWare simply as a studio of Electronic Arts Inc., and BioWare's own about page states that the studio was acquired by Electronic Arts in 2008.

BioWare summarises its purpose in a single mission statement, printed on its about page: creating worlds of adventure, conflict and companionship that inspire players to become the hero of the story. The same page lists the studio's franchises and notes that it is also working on the next Mass Effect game, which it calls one of the highest-rated video game franchises, and named Dragon Age: The Veilguard as a project at the time the page was written.

How it started

BioWare's account of its origins begins in medicine, not games. Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk started programming medical education software for the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine in 1994 while doing their residencies, and Augustine Yip joined the partnership shortly afterwards. Their first project was an Acid-Base Simulator; a second medical project, a Gastroenterology Patient Simulator, was completed in 1995. The studio itself became a company on February 1, 1995, in a small room in Greg Zeschuk's basement, after the three founders recruited programmers and artists. BioWare's first commercial release was a mech-style game called Shattered Steel, released in October 1996 and developed with a Calgary subcontractor, Pyrotek Game Studios.

Ownership

The route to Electronic Arts is described on two of BioWare's own pages. Its Edmonton studio page says that BioWare and Pandemic Studios joined forces in late 2005, and that two years later the two announced that Electronic Arts had bought the partnership, with BioWare retaining its culture and brand. The studio's about page states directly that BioWare was acquired by Electronic Arts in 2008. Electronic Arts, for its part, refers to BioWare as a studio of Electronic Arts Inc. in its corporate press material, and lists the studio's releases under its own newsroom.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Electronic Arts announced Mass Effect Legendary Edition on February 2, 2021, with a launch set for May 14 of that year. The release covers personal computer via Origin and Steam, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with forward compatibility on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. According to the same announcement, the collection contains the single-player base content and more than forty downloadable content story, weapon and armour packs from Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3, remastered and optimised for 4K Ultra HD.

The project director quoted in the release was BioWare's Mac Walters. Electronic Arts' product page for the collection adds further detail on what was changed. It states that the three games were remastered and optimised for 4K Ultra HD, with remastered character models, reworked shaders and visual effects, updated lighting, improved dynamic shadows and enhanced pre-rendered cinematics. Choices made in one game carry through to the others, and the collection uses a unified character creation system that applies across all three titles.

Games

• Anthem
• Baldur's Gate
• Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
• Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
• Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast
• Dragon Age II
• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Dragon Age: Inquisition – Jaws of Hakkon
• Dragon Age: Inquisition – Trespasser
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition
• Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening
• Dragon Age: Origins – Return to Ostagar
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• EA Classics Mega Collection
• Jade Empire
• Mass Effect 2
• Mass Effect 2: Arrival
• Mass Effect 2: Digital Deluxe Edition
• Mass Effect 2: Kasumi - Stolen Memory
• Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker
• Mass Effect 2: Overlord
• Mass Effect 3
• Mass Effect 3: Citadel
• Mass Effect 3: Extended Cut
• Mass Effect 3: From Ashes
• Mass Effect 3: Leviathan
• Mass Effect 3: Omega
• Mass Effect Galaxy
• Mass Effect Legendary Edition
• Mass Effect Trilogy
• Mass Effect: Andromeda
• MDK 2
• Neverwinter Nights
• Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark
• Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker
• Neverwinter Nights: Pirates of the Sword Coast
• Shadow Realms
• Shattered Steel
• Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
• Star Wars: The Old Republic
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Galactic Starfighter
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Galactic Strongholds
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Eternal Throne
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Knights of the Fallen Empire
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Onslaught
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Rise of the Hutt Cartel
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Shadow of Revan
• untitled Mass Effect video game

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